


That's Not How Cloning Works

by Rainosa



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Phanniemay 2018, Trans Character, Trans Danny, Trans Male Character, danny can't stop laughing, listen thats not how clones work, not a lot but i mean danny is still sad, sam is both the smart person and a clueless fool, trans!Danny, your bullshit science won't work on me butch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 13:13:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15219899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainosa/pseuds/Rainosa
Summary: Danny knows Sam isn't an idiot. When she comes asking after the details of Dani's origin, he knows his only option is to explain the situation, and talk to her about his feelings on the subject. Sam, however, is oblivious af, and draws the wrong conclusions like a goddamn fool





	That's Not How Cloning Works

**Author's Note:**

> y'all know my first fic on ao3 had to be danny phantom
> 
> inspired loosely by some older fics i read where sam asks about the cloning process and it turns out dani is actually technically danny's literal actual child, not a clone, but i wanted to take it somewhere different
> 
> enjoy!

“So, who is Dani actually?”

“What?” Danny spins into a direct and questioning look from Sam, heart leaping into his throat at the surety in her voice. She hasn’t waited even two minutes after Dani’s departure before asking (if Danny squints, he thinks he can still see her flying away in the distance), so that tells him two things: one, whatever he tells her, she’s willing to keep it between them if he needs to, and two, she’s absolutely sure she’s right, and no amount of beating around the bush will take her off the scent of this one. Whatever secret it is that she’s set her sights on, she must have determined that it’s something he needs to talk to someone about. And, well, if he’s being honest, he probably should confide in someone about this one.

Sam folds her arms and shifts her weight with confidence, “C’mon Danny, spill. I know she’s not your cousin.”

“And how would you know that?” he decides to dodge anyway.

She gives him an empathetic half-smirk, “Well for one thing, the likelihood of another portal opening up to create another half-ghost, who just happens to be related to you and looks exactly like you is about a bazillion times too ridiculous to actually happen. Also, I asked Jazz if you guys have any cousins. Guess what her answer was.”

Danny shrugs, “Well, damn. Guess the jig is up.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t a very good jig in the first place,” Sam softly chuckles. She bumps against his shoulder, “So, mind telling me the real deal?”

He nods, but he can feel himself tensing up, and he can tell that she can tell he’s tensing up. With a gentle hand on his arm, she steers them into the house and onto the stairs, seeking out the privacy of his room. Once he’s sitting on his own bed with the door closed, he can feel a bit of a weight off his shoulders. Sam knows him well. She’ll know how this kind of thing might impact him, and she’ll know what to do. He can talk to her.

After checking to make sure both the window and the door are locked, Sam takes a seat in the desk chair across from him, “Okay, gimme the bad stuff. Who’ve we gotta punch?”

“Pfft,” he half-heartedly breathes, “It’s just Vlad again. No one we don’t already need to punch.”

“Disappointing,” she nods, “but not unexpected. To what do we owe him the pleasure?”

A long and tired sigh slips out as Danny rubs at the back of his neck, “Vlad…is trying to clone me.”

Sam blinks. Danny decides to forge ahead.

“Apparently he’s been doing it for a while, as sort of a back-up plan for when I refused to join him. It’s not a plan that’s worked up until now because…well, because the clones kept coming out not fully formed. Most of them were so unstable that they just kind of…melted, after coming out of the lab. Some of them…God, Sam, I couldn’t even describe some of them to you, they were so hard to look at.I shut the place down as best I could but Dani - I couldn’t. I can’t. She’s her own person. She’s the most stable of Vlad’s clones, and the only one that can think for herself, and she deserves to live a real life. So, I called her my cousin just so she could….I dunno, feel some of that? God, I don’t know. It’s just all a lot. It’s crazy and overwhelming and unimaginable, and I don’t have the time to deal with a lot of it right now, so I let Dani go. I’m just - I don’t know, it’s a lot.”

Sam’s already beside him on the bed, pulling him into a one-armed hug, and he ducks his head into her shoulder. He can feel his breathing has sped up, but as she carefully smoothes out the wrinkles on the back of his shirt with a soothing hand, he starts to calm himself, and slowly it stops being a struggle to take in air. Tears that had been waiting at the corners of his eyes recede, just as Sam speaks up.

“I’m so sorry all that happened to you Danny,” she comforts, starting to run a hand through his hair, “That’s awful, and no one should have to see that or deal with that, especially you.”

Danny nods, “Thanks Sa-”

“But -” she interrupts, “I’m like 200% sure that’s not how cloning works.”

Danny blinks in surprise, and pulls away, “What?”

“Cloning,” Sam repeats, turning to face him properly, “It needs to copy your DNA directly, and no matter how much tampering is done to it, science still can’t change certain things. Exhibit A: the whole entire sex of the DNA. People can’t just change a whole ass chromosome, Danny. Dani can’t be your clone, because it’s physically impossible.”

“Wait what?” Danny sits straight up, “No, I know that you can’t change the sex of DNA, but Dani is still like super obviously my clone. I mean, take two seconds to look at the both of us.”

Sam shrugs, “Hey, I’m not saying you don’t share a resemblance, but the fact remains: your DNA is male, and hers isn’t. Whatever Vlad did, it’s not-”

“No, wait - no, oh my god, what the fuck, how has this not come up before,” Danny starts blabbering excitedly, an embarrassed blush coming to his face.

“Danny, I don’t know what you think denial is gonna do for you here -” Sam attempts again, only to be interrupted by Danny reaching out and taking her by the wrists.”

“No Sam, shut up, oh my god, you’re wrong, that’s all wrong, the whole thing is wrong, trust me. Oh my god I can’t believe this. How have I never mentioned it? How did you never pick up on it? This is both the best and the most unbelievable thing to ever happen to me,” he rambles. Really? There’s no way that this whole time she didn’t know. But god damn, if she really didn’t know, then his personal self-confidence was about to take a trip to the moon.

Sam shakes him until he’s making eye contact with her again, “Danny! What is it? What am I missing here?”

He can tell his cheeks are bright red right now as he grins from ear to ear, “Well ok, I mean, it’s just…”

“You really thought I was a cis guy this whole time?”

Sam’s jaw drops, “What?! Oh my god!”

Danny pulls away from her again in a fit of giggles, “I can’t believe you didn’t know! I thought I wasn’t ‘passing’! This is like, the first time I’ve got to come out in reverse!”

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Sam puts her head in her hands, laughter shaking her whole body now, “Ahh I can’t believe myself!”

“This is I think the most affirming thing anyone has ever done for me and you didn’t even -”

“And I didn’t even mean to do it ahhhh I know!!” Sam yells quietly, both hands covering her entire face, “How did I not know this?!”

“I guess when you moved here I figured you just knew?? I mean look at you, I figured you could spot a trans guy, you’re all social injustice incarnate over here,” Danny chuckles.

“I am! I am! The thing is I am! I’m just also super oblivious I guess!” Sam swivels to look Danny in the face as she stage-whispers to him, hands still shielding either side of her face.

“And then -” Danny’s sentences start falling apart as laughter takes over, “-oh my god, Sam - and then I guess it just coincidentally hasn’t come up - coincidentally!”

“I can’t believe this,” Sam flops backwards onto the bed, “I don’t know if I should say sorry or you’re welcome?”

“I don’t know either!” Danny dissolves into giggles and flops back with her.

“Well, okay, let’s try this,” she shifts so she can see Danny again, “Sorry for being a dumb fuck.”

“Pfft, Sam -” Danny starts, but she holds out a finger to stop him.

“And you’re welcome for the confidence boost. But also, sorry for derailing the talk about clones like that. I didn’t want you to feel like that wasn’t important.”

“Ah - hmm. Right,” Danny sobers a bit, suddenly remembering how they reached this topic.

Sam drops back down to the bed, and for a moment, neither of them say anything.

“Actually, you know what, thanks,” Danny twists his head awkwardly to look back at Sam, “It might not have been on topic, but hey, it certainly did help me feel better. So don’t feel bad about it. It was nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Sam huffs, “Okay good, because I have no idea how to deal with clone feelings, I did not have a plan.”

Danny smacks her in the face with a pillow.


End file.
